Spain must model job market on German reforms

Unemployment has risen again in Spain. At 21.5 percent the jobless rate at the turn of the year was double the European average. The new government should follow Germany's example when reforming the labour market, the conservative daily ABC advises: "There are several reasons why, despite the crisis, employment has been maintained at such satisfactory levels in other European countries, but they can be condensed to a single concept: their economies are more competitive. This concept comprises a number of factors ranging from the organisation and quality of the infrastructures to social habits and of course the regulations that govern relations between employers and employees. The current situation in Germany is the fruit of a battery of reforms that were undertaken during the times of the last social democratic governments and completed during Chancellor Merkel's first term in office under the grand coalition with the aim of adapting the labour market to the competitive conditions of a globalised economy. Mariano Rajoy's government knows that it has the crucial task of introducing radical reforms to change the situation, and that Spain's future depends on it."

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